Walks during Weekend of the Cemetery in the Netherlands

Discover impotant monuments and graves full of love at the Westerveld Cemetery & Crematorium and the Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium.

Individual walks

During the national Weekend of the Cemetery, whose theme this year is "Cemeteries: full of love", Westerveld Cemetery & Crematorium (Driehuis, Netherlands) and Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium (Arnhem, Netherlands) are offering very special walks.

“As group walks and activities are currently not allowed because of Covid-19 measures, we are pleased to welcome visitors in a different manner,” explains Carla Bosua, director of the two locations. “After all, our beautiful memorial parks are very suitable for a walk, either alone or in a small group. We provide a map and description so that everyone can discover for themselves that our cemeteries are also ‘full of love’.”

Westerveld

On Sunday, May 30th, 2021, Westerveld Cemetery & Crematorium is offering a very special countryside walk which covers a number of important monuments. A route description is available at the Petit Café Westerveld. Staff will be pleased to welcome walkers to the café patio where food and drinks are available.

Moscowa

A special route has been set out in Moscowa Memorial Park, to discover graves which are "full of love". - love for the loved ones, love for a hobby, pet or profession. The walk is extremely suitable for a solo trip or for a small group that wants to explore Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium. Maps with the route description are available at the Moscowa tearoom. 

Additional information

www.bc-westerveld.nl

www.moscowa.nl

Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium (Arnhem, Netherlands)

Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium lies in delightful surroundings and, aside from being a last resting place, is also popular with walkers.

The origin of the name

Moscowa Cemetery (1873) derives its name from the manor farm of the same name, which is just outside the cemetery. The farm was built in 1847 by Jacob Carel Jan baron van Heeckeren van Enghuizen. He was a military man in heart and soul who liked to name his farms after the military campaigns he undertook while serving in the French army - in this case a campaign to Moscow in 1812 under Napoleon.

Cemetery structure

Moscowa has two chapels. The buildings have the typical pointed form. Entering one of the chapels, you will see towards the end of the walkway an unusual triangular stained glass window comprising some five thousand coloured pieces of glass. The windows, developed by graphic designer Jan P.C. van Doorn, evoke interaction. The pattern is of vegetation rising from the ground, dominated by horizontal and vertical lines.

Moscowa opened a crematorium in 1974. The site features a beautiful urn garden with a wide variety of memorials, many created by artists from Arnhem and the surrounding area. Ashes may also be interred in or on an existing grave.

A popular walking site

Moscowa currently covers over thirty hectares. The burial park which dates back more than 135 years is characterised by its lovely setting, monumental design and huge diversity of flora. The many unusual conifer trees are an especially striking feature. A wide variety of birds breed at Moscowa, including the Green Woodpecker, the Tawny Owl and the Buzzard, but songbirds are also well represented. In the autumn, there is a wide array of fungi, including the Cauliflower mushroom, Fly Agaric, Bay Bolete and Penny Bun or Porcino. This makes Moscowa not only a last resting place, but also popular with walkers.

Artistic and historical value

There are a multitude of historic and art-historic reasons to take a stroll around Moscowa. There are many very special monuments and tombs signed by artists and sculptors, in all kinds of different materials. Among the more striking in the collection are a truncated obelisk, an intricately embroidered pall over a coffin and an ornately sculpted neo-Gothic cross, but also a monument with great symbolism representing Faith, Hope and Charity, an Art Nouveau memorial and a mausoleum (the only one of its kind).

Address

Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium
Waterbergseweg 18
6815 AP Arnhem
The Netherlands

Contacts

Tel.: +31 (0)26 445 63 47
Fax: +31 (0)26 445 75 25
E-mail: info@moscowa.nl

Website: www.moscowa.nl